Secrets of the Darkest Art
by SaintRidley
Summary: Published in 1487, only Voldemort and Hermione Granger have read this book in its entirety during the twentieth century. See what it is that they read, the history and secrets of the Horcrux. Finished. I don't own HP.
1. Introduction

**A/N - I do NOT own the HP story. And no, this is not a Hermione/Voldemort fic. They are listed, though, for their connection to the book, to the history, and in Voldemort's case, to the nature of the discussed object itself. You have been warned - this will discuss creating and protecting Horcruxes, history of their use and destruction. I invent spells here, and if any so inspire you, you are free to use them in your own work. Please, however, do credit me or mention it to me. I'd love to see how you use them.**

_Secrets of the Darkest Art_

_Introduction_

The Dark Arts are varied and overpowering, many and viciously taxing to master. Pain, control, the workings of life and death, all can be manipulated by one skilled in the Dark Arts. Each new spell, each new device, each new method of magical theory that a wizard doth explore when beginning his search into the Dark Arts will invariably be more sinister and diabolical than the last. The Dark Arts are to be feared and respected; misuse can have the gravest consequences.

So, what, pray tell, do we speak of when we mention the Darkest Art? Some naïve fools would say that the Killing Curse is the blackest spell. Others would look to Inferi, and they would be more correct. Few things terrify as those rotting servants of the Dark Lords and Ladies do. However, neither is the Inferius the Darkest Art. Nor, though some have claimed this, are those soulless fiends, the Dementors. Some speculate that the Dementors were created by a long-forgotten Dark Lord, one with an obsession with the soul. The validity of that speculation put aside, these are the people that hath come closest to grasping the truth of the Darkest Art.

The foulest of magical inventions, the Darkest of artefacts, the most insidious of all enchanted devices is the Horcrux. In this book, thou wilt find everything known about the Horcrux, from how it is created to how it is destroyed. The process of then hiding the Horcrux, as well as the side-effects of having one, will be given in explicit detail. Woe betide those that dare to attempt this feat lightly. Their impertinence shall be justly repaid, destroying them utterly.


	2. Defining the Horcrux

_Defining the Horcrux_

_"The Horcrux is min key to eternity, min hope and dream that I should live forevermore and rule as an immortal god." – Manethon, Egyptian Sorcerer and first known user of the Horcrux._

When we speak of the Horcrux, we must first discuss the nature of that ever-elusive and nigh-indefinable entity, the human soul.

The soul is the centre of our emotions, the storehouse of our memories, and the driver of our will to live. Without our souls, we are nothing but husks, unable and unwilling to do anything. We see this with the administration of the Dementor's Kiss, and the fate of those who are subject to it.

A soul that is untouched and whole in life shall continue to be as such after death. However, a soul that is split in life and partially concealed outside the body in a Horcrux shall endure in life for so long as the Horcrux doth survive. And so, we come to our definition of the human soul.

The soul is an intangible entity that resideth within us all. It can not be measured or touched, and it can only be affected by certain circumstances. A soul can only be destroyed in one way, through digestion by a Dementor. However, the theory behind the Horcrux relieth on the one other proven method of affecting the soul. This other method of affecting the soul is through measured tears of the soul, creating an incision of which great advantage can be taken.

These tears in the soul doth make it possible to excise a portion of the soul and encase it within an object, creating a Horcrux. So long as that Horcrux surviveth, its creator shall have eternal life. Fortunately, Horcruxes are nigh indestructible, only affected by some of the most dangerous substances and spells in existence.

To illustrate the difference between a soul fragment enclosed within a Horcrux and a soul in its natural and untouched state, a simple comparison can be made. The Horcrux and the human behave oppositely with regards to damage. A human, whilst incredibly easy to harm and destroy, suffereth no damage to the soul contained inside. However, the Horcrux, whilst rather difficult to harm and even more difficult to destroy, suffereth the greatest imaginable damage to the soul fragment contained inside. When a human suffereth death, the soul passeth on as is. When a Horcrux is destroyed, the soul fragment within ceaseth to exist. It doth not pass on to the afterlife; it doth not continue to exist in this world as a ghost. The soul fragment is destroyed utterly, as if by the Dementor's Kiss. Without the Horcrux, its creator is once again vulnerable to death.

This is what happened to Manethon; for three hundred years he lived on an on, ruling Egypt by proxy, until he was foolish enough to share his research with his protégé. The apprentice worked out what and where the Horcrux was, and in the dead of night stole away a written copy of the _Amduat_, a funerary text reserved for the pharaohs, and brought it to Manethon's prized dragon. The dragon, enraged to be awoken and to find itself still caged, let out a mighty jet of flame, into which the apprentice threw the book, destroying the Horcrux. The next morning, with a knife up his sleeve, he dispatched Manethon and claimed his position as the new power behind the throne of Egypt.


	3. Why Choose the Horcrux

_Why choose the Horcrux_

"_In order to master death; to better ensure min immortality, I do select the most foolproof method. Min Horcrux granteth me life eternal." – Loxias, Horcrux creator and rumoured master of the Elder Wand._

The quest for immortality is but a natural extension of the human drive to endure, to conquer death and continue on. Ghosts can tell us that there is an afterlife, and even the prospect of being a ghost is a sort of eternity. The alchemist's quest for the Philosopher's Stone, rumoured to have been achieved by Nicolas Flamel as recently as one hundred years ago, is yet another method of achieving the immortality desired by would-be conquerors of death. Even the mythical Deathly Hallows, supposedly created by Death himself, are said to make the man who unites them the Master of Death.

So why, with so many methods (both real and myth) of achieving an eternal existence, would one elect to create a Horcrux in order to become immortal?

The answer is quite simple: the Horcrux is by far the most reliable method. It is true that becoming a ghost is more reliable for one who simply seeketh to persist, however ghosts are unable to affect the world around them and so are accordingly discounted from this debate. It is the need; the instinct to survive that drives people to create Horcruxes.

Of the Philosopher's Stone, the simple fact of the matter is that the Stone can be depleted. Eternal life lasteth only as long as there is a Stone to provide the Elixir, and death by non-natural causes is still possible. Not so with the Horcrux. Rather, the Horcrux is eternal, and its power can never be depleted.

Of the Deathly Hallows, it can only be said that the legend may well be based in fact. Long ago, around the time at which Queen Mæve established her school in Ireland, there lived three brothers by the name of Peverell. Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignotus were immensely creative and powerful wizards, capable of great feats of magick. If the old færie tale is at all based in fact, it would be sensible for it to be based on these three brothers.

Antioch is rumoured, as according to the legend, to have created a wand of elder that would amplify its master's power. Wandlore aside, there is only the testimony of Dark Lords past who claimed ownership of an all-powerful wand to support the rumour. One such Lord, who shall be discussed later, is both rumoured to have carried the Wand of Destiny and to have been the most recent practitioner of Horcrux magick.

The second brother, Cadmus, as the tale goeth, created a Stone that would revive the dead. The Stone was lost after he took his own life, and none can say who hath it now. It is known that a man, of age roughly the same as the amount of time Cadmus' beloved had been dead when he created the Stone, surfaced after Cadmus died. He claimed Peverell lineage and all genealogical tests pointed to him as the rightful heir to Cadmus Peverell. The Stone, if it existeth, hath long since been lost to myth and lore.

The third brother, Ignotus Peverell, is said to have created a Cloak of True Invisibility. Infallible in its protection, this Cloak is rumoured to have passed directly down the line, from father to eldest child. The current whereabouts are unknown (if such a cloak truly existeth), but a genealogical study giveth the current owner as Betelgeuse Lestrange, whose eldest child is betrothed to Ignatius Potter.

Together these three items are rumoured to make the owner the Master of Death. But what that doth entail is a mystery. Not even when they were first created are the items said to have been united. It can be argued that the Wand granteth the ability to dispense death, the Stone the ability to recall the dead, and the Cloak the ability to evade death, but this argument leaveth the owner at even less advantage than doth the Philosopher's Stone. The so-called 'Master of Death' will die as any man dies, as early as any other man ordinarily dies.

And once again, it all returneth to the Horcrux. As the only reliable way to earn immortality for any significant time, Horcrux magick can be trusted to preserve the life of the user. It merely taketh a sort of moral flexibility to master the art.


	4. Theory of the Horcrux

**A/N - a challenge to those who care to try. Figure out what the ritual says in English (or get a pretty rough idea of it). Whoever does so, contacts me with their attempt, and comes closest by the time I post the final chapter of this, will be notified. They will then be able to give me any prompt to write a one-shot about, no matter how ludicrous, and I will write it.**

_Theory of the Horcrux_

"_It merely taketh a little hate, a bit of malice. 'Tis all one truly needeth to become immortal." – Ungor the Unmerciful, Horcrux creator._

The theory of the Horcrux doth begin with and end with the soul. It hath been noted that in order to create a Horcrux, one must tear the soul and then, in a precise ritual process, sevreth the portion that is to be encased from the main body of the soul.

To tear the soul, it is necessary that the prospective creator of the Horcrux kill another being. It is through deliberate murder that the soul is torn, allowing for the future possibility of Horcrux magicks.

When one doth wish to create a Horcrux, things must be set precisely for the magick to take effect. On the side of the creator's wand hand must lay the wand, and in front must lay the object to be converted into a Horcrux. With a clear mind, the wand must be taken in hand and used to examine the body. When the wand gloweth dark, the spot where the soul is torn hath been found. From there, it is a careful and exhausting process to sever the last bond betwixt the fragment and the main portion.

The beginning of the process is to touch the wand precisely to the spot where the tear is located, and then to speak aloud the beginning incantation. _Anima Suerga_ is the incantation that doth bring the piece close to the surface and sevreth the bond. This will be signified as successful when the area touched by the wand turneth black. The skin should return to its normal colouration within a week of this.

The next part, excising the soul piece, is more complicated. Still touching wand to skin, concentration must be maintained. Death is the consequence for failure at any stage in the creation of a Horcrux, so it is advised that any man who attempteth this feat do not do so lightly. Slowly, the wand must be drawn away from the skin as its holder chanteth aloud the following:

_Laqueus belgili most,_

_Odmor il ruh,_

_Avbryte riznica._

_Ego müspet den, poboljšan id;_

_Adl det prirodan ordo_

_Be færre svaršen_

_Et öylesine den lice,_

_Ut beni ta moj animus_

_Içine min vlastiti manuum._

Pronunciation must be exact, or death will come swiftly to the failure. If successful, it shall be obvious, as the chanter will be alive and in pain. In addition to the incredible pain, the wand will be found to be holding an amount of silver vapour. That soulstuff will be what is encased in the Horcrux when it touches the object that is to be converted. At the point of touching the soulstuff to an object, as touching any object will find the soulstuff absorbed, pronouncing the incantation_ Istribuo Anima_ will cause the portion of the soul to be absorbed and the Horcrux created. It is common at this point for those who created a Horcrux to pass out for a period of nearly three days once the portion of their soul hath been enclosed within its Horcrux.

* * *

On unmaking a Horcrux, it was discovered about seven hundred years ago that the only way to mend a broken soul is to feel remorse for the actions that led to the creation of the Horcrux, to truly feel that what he hath done is wrong. The pain of it could easily kill any man who dareth to attempt it. Doing so, hath in fact, killed one of the two wizards to ever attempt this feat. For this reason, it is recommended that creating a Horcrux be reserved only for those who truly wish to pursue immortality and possess the moral strength to pursue that course of action guilt-free.


	5. Destroying The Horcrux

_Destroying the Horcrux_

"_The means of destruction are highly magical, incredibly rare, and more often than not incredibly deadly." – Ignacio Salvador de Martinez, Spanish Parselmouth and Horcrux experimenter._

A Horcrux, as hath been noted, is nigh-indestructible. Only a few rare creatures can destroy the Horcrux, and only a handful of spells can even hope to do the same. However, for the would-be immortal, it is necessary to know what can destroy a Horcrux. This knowledge can prove useful in knowing what weapons an enemy might bring to destroy thy Horcrux, and therefore, how to best counter them.

The first method of destroying a Horcrux is, as the first method demonstrated to do so, dragon's fire. The flames from the breath of any dragon are so empowered magically as to defeat all protections inherent in the structure of the Horcrux. Dragon's fire is considered a cleansing force in some circles; and it cometh as no surprise that those who would wish to cleanse the 'taint' of a Horcrux would choose dragon's fire to do so. Manethon of Sebennytos, the first user of Horcrux magick, saw his Horcrux destroyed by dragon's fire before he was assassinated.

The second approach to destroying a Horcrux is the use of the spell that usually enableth one to create his own Horcrux – the Killing Curse. Though the spell is utterly useless against those Horcruxes that are not living creatures, enough wizards have attempted to create living Horcruxes that it doth warrant mention. A living Horcrux, like the falcon that Shingo Tokugawa of Japan used, is vulnerable to the Killing Curse just as well as any other living creature. Tokugawa's Horcrux was destroyed when Tokugawa enraged a wizard from a nearby city. The locals told tales of the strange bird, and revenge was had when the falcon was killed and served to Tokugawa for dinner. It is for obvious reasons that living Horcruxes are discouraged, as they are far frailer than inanimate Horcruxes in this regard.

A third procedure for destroying a Horcrux, discovered by Carmen Salvador de Santiago, involveth the Horcrux object being stung by a manticore. Manticore poison is instantly fatal in humans and hath no known cure. Salvador discovered this when sche and hir husband each created a Horcrux to research destruction methods. Among hir trial attempts were piercing the Horcrux with an erumpet horn, exposing it to the virulent breath of a nundu, and coating the Horcrux in acid from the stomach of a Quintaped. Everything failed until sche brought a manticore in to test on the Horcrux.

Hir husband discovered the fourth known means by which one can destroy a Horcrux. Ignacio Salvador de Martinez was a Spanish Parselmouth who bred basilisks for a hobby. While the glare of a basilisk could not harm a Horcrux, as Horcruxes do not usually have eyes unless they are in the process of Manifestation (covered in the next chapter), the venom from a basilisk's fangs doth harm and destroy a Horcrux. Always fatal unless phoenix tears are applied immediately, basilisk's venom destroyeth and corrodeth the very essence of the Horcrux. Ignacio and Carmen's contribution to the body of knowledge relating to Horcrux magick is invaluable, as basilisk's venom is the single most commonly used means of destroying Horcruxes throughout history. It is untested whether or not a basilisk's glare would destroy a Manifesting Horcrux.

The fifth, and most unreliable method by which to destroy a Horcrux, is through the application of the only spell known to harm a Horcrux besides the Killing Curse. Fiendfyre is an incredibly unstable spell as notable for its incredible destructive prowess as it is for the fact that it is impossible to control by all but the most skilled wizards. As it stands, every wizard to ever attempt destruction of a Horcrux by Fiendfyre gave their own lives in order to do so. Astalyphus, the Greek wizard who invented Fiendfyre left only one scrap of parchment by which to note his discovery. Translated, it doth read:

_ Demosfyr, destroyeth utterly, all things charred beyond recognition. USETH NOT; uncontrollable._

The sixth way to destroy a Horcrux is possibly even more dangerous than Fiendfyre. Only one wizard hath ever successfully killed a chimæra, and he fell to his death due to the exhaustion incurred in the encounter. A chimæra's teeth, whilst not venomous, are so incredibly sharp and the jaws so powerful that the chimæra is the only known thing that can destroy a Horcrux by sheer brute force. In any other instance, a Horcrux will repair itself of any damage sustained by physical or magical means (with the above exceptions that destroy the Horcrux entirely), but a chimæra that gets its claws and teeth into a Horcrux can wreak permanent damage too quickly for the Horcrux to repair. Ungar the Unmerciful discovered this when his scheme to guard his Horcrux with a chimæra backfired on him.

There is a theoretical seventh means of destroying a Horcrux, but it hath never been tested successfully. Those who have attempted to test the theory have had their own souls destroyed in the process, because they were testing the theory that the Dementor's Kiss could destroy a Horcrux without harming the object itself. The idea was that prospective Horcrux destroyers who valued the object that was the Horcrux could remove the soul piece inside whilst keeping the innate properties of the original object intact if it were introduced to a Dementor that tried to Kiss the Horcrux. Results have been inconclusive.

Tests have also been attempted with living, human Horcruxes, to see what would become of a human with more than a whole soul if the human were Kissed. Would the original soul of the person be destroyed? Or would the foreign soul piece be consumed? Would both be taken by the Kiss, or would each piece protecteth the other in some fashion? The answers to these questions are unknown, but the prevailing view is that the Dementor may destroy the whole soul without even noticing the smaller fragment. If this is the case, the fragment would be able to assume control of the body, bypassing the normal instinct to find a human to feed off of in order to manifest.


	6. Protection, Behaviour, and Changes

_Protection, Behaviour, and Changes_

"_Fiendfyre is as unpredictable and as dangerous as the Horcrux itself." – Astalyphus, inventor of Fiendfyre._

Despite the rarity of those few things that can truly and utterly destroy a Horcrux, it is most wise to protect them anyway. For so long as Horcrux magick hath been practised, there have been those that seek to find and destroy the results. A great number of spells can be used to protect Horcruxes.

The first thing any wizard should do to protect a portion of his soul is to make it impossible to summon them. There are a great many spells that hinder the summoning charm, but the rarest and most effective is _Magcikus Nullifatio_, a charm that rendreth all spells cast directly upon the Horcrux null. This will prevent summoning charms, banishing charms, _Specialis Revelio_,and all other target-specific spells to fail. Other spells, such as the Killing Curse, Stinging Hex, and Fiendfyre, however, are not targeted, and thus are not protected against by this spell.

Other spells may not have the overall utility of _Magickus Nullifatio_, but they are in many ways more permanent protections. Those seeking to disable _Magickus Nullifatio_ will be able to do so if they discover the spell. Most methods of determining protective charms fail, however, to recognise Static Unforgiveable Curses. _Avada Kedavra Extasis_, the Static Killing Curse can be applied to a Horcrux. The next time the Horcrux is touched, the curse will activate. Death taketh betwixt five and seven minutes to fully take effect. The curse can be stopped, though any area affected will remain dead. _Imperio Extasis_, the Static Imperius Curse, doth last until the object is touched, at which point a course of action is suggested that will place the affected as far from the Horcrux as possible. _Crucio Extasis_, the Static Cruciatus Curse, createth unbearable pain for so long as the Horcrux is held. Like the others of its kind, _Crucio Extasis_ is stored until the object is touched.

The Fidelius Charm can be an effective safeguard to a Horcrux, provided the Secret Keeper is trustworthy and doth not know that the object is a Horcrux. It is advised, however, that _Magickus Nullifatio_ not be used prior to casting the Fidelius Charm, as the Fidelius Charm is a targeted spell.

Inferi are a common set of guardians for Horcruxes. Mindless and loyal to their creators; Inferi do indeed make excellent guardians if given the proper directions. The undead are, however, vulnerable to fire. To mitigate this, it is suggested that if Inferi are employed in protecting a Horcrux, the hiding place should be submerged or surrounded by water. It should also be noted that Inferi will turn all that they kill into one of their own, improving their ability to protect. Human corpses are required in order to make Inferi, as such Necromancy doth require complex charm work. _Ambulus Corpus _granteth the corpse the ability to move in any fashion suited to the environment. _Feroxicorpus _gives the Inferius the ferocious and bloodthirsty disposition it is infamous for. _Brëdas Corpus_ is the spell that giveth the ability to create new Inferi when an Inferius hath killed.It is advised, in order to prevent unnecessary use of Inferi, to charm whatever environment an Inferius doth reside in to keep the Inferius docile until human contact hath been made with that environment.

One strategy for protecting a Horcrux involveth no magic whatsoever. Simply hiding a Horcrux amongst a large amount of other things, provided the Horcrux is innocuous enough, can leave the Horcrux undiscovered and unrecognised for an incredibly long period of time. This should only be done with Horcruxes that are of fairly typical appearance.

The last major protection to grant a Horcrux is to submerge it in a potion. Appropriately called _Liquëre Dementorum_, this potion causeth the drinker to relive the very worst of his memories. The potion is brewed much the same as Amortentia, the only differences present in substituting the dried billywigs and erkling larynx with three ounces of basilisk venom and two ounces of powdered flesh and bone from the hand of a Dementor. Correctly brewed, _Liquëre Dementorum_, should be emerald green and emit a phosphorescent green glow. Of all potions, it is one of the rare few that cannot be penetrated by hand, Vanished, parted, scooped, siphoned, Transfigured, Charmed, or otherwise altered. This is in part due to the inclusion of the basilisk venom, which doth impart the innate resistance to magick the basilisk boasteth. The Dementor flesh is also responsible for this, as well as the effect when drunk (as the only way to reduce the amount of potion in whatever container it doth reside in is to drink it). The potion will continue in its effects until the drinker consumeth water. Any container drank from that hath touched this potion, however, cannot be charmed to hold water. Attempts to do so fail; and so water must come from a source beyond magick. A drinker that doth manage to get water will be found incredibly weakened, the better to capture and question him.

Aside from these protections, the standard fare of spells and locations should suffice for protecting a Horcrux if none of these methods is available.

The behaviour of a Horcrux is an interesting field of study that could shed light on the nature of souls in general. A Horcrux, left to its own devices, is mostly harmless. However, when the human element is introduced to a Horcrux, things become more interesting. A human will, against his better judgement, become drawn to the Horcrux. In becoming drawn to the Horcrux, the human subject will invariably experience a marked decline in their morale. The Salvadors, before destroying their Horcruxes, carried out experiments on fifty human subjects. Each subject behaved exactly the same: jealously guarding the Horcrux, experiencing extreme grief and anger, and withdrawing into themselves. When the Horcrux was removed from their possession all measured variables returned to the same levels as they were prior to the introduction of the Horcrux. This was, as was later noted by Augustus Peake, the first stage of Manifestation.

Manifestation is when a Horcrux doth begin to feed off the emotions of a human host, draining the host of all positive emotion and amplifying negative ones. The end result of manifestation is that the soul fragment inside gaineth enough power over the soul of its host to construct a body that appears as the Horcrux creator's did at the time the Horcrux was created. When this happens, the soul piece becometh fully alert and ambulatory, and, with a wand, can perform magick. The newly freed soul fragment behaveth much as would a fully functional wizard, although depending on how long it was a Horcrux, its knowledge may be lacking (Peake's Horcrux Manifested forty years after it was created, and thusly did not know about the invention of the Conjunctivitis Curse, which felled it). Manifestation is usually a lengthy process, though there are some wizards who have experienced such trauma in their lives that Manifestation takes place almost instantly. Once Manifestation hath begun, the only way to stop it is to destroy the Horcrux. Partially Manifested soul fragments appear grey and unclear, as if seen through a veil, becoming more solid and distinct as time passeth.

There are physical changes associated with creating a Horcrux. The body seemeth to react to the absence of a portion of the soul and thus regresseth. Different Horcrux creators regress in different ways and in varying degrees of severity. Most simply appear slightly more fierce, taller, darker, or, in rare cases, more handsome. Some rare few, though, seem to become less human appearing. Scholars in the field of Horcrux Magick believe that the body is transforming to become a physical representation of what the soul is, of what the person truly is in their heart of hearts.


	7. Loxias

_Loxias_

"_Death doth not become me. I have the Wand of Destiny and I have min Horcrux. With objects of such power, who doth dare to be able to defeat me?" – Loxias, Horcrux creator and rumoured master of the Elder Wand._

Loxias was a Dark Wizard that died about fifteen years hence, and is the most recently known creator of a Horcrux. His reign is infamous for its cruelty. Born to Muggles, Loxias craved power from the moment he discovered his magick. He attended Hogwarts and it was there that he began his research into the Dark Arts. He was, according to the professors who taught him, an adept young mind, quick to learn and absorb knowledge.

In the name of Muggleborn wizards and witches everywhere, Loxias vowed to destroy every last pureblood in Britain. When he ultimately failed in his first assassination attempt against Betelgeuse Lestrange, Loxias went back to research, to discover Dark spells that could be of use in his quest.

It was in this way that Loxias discovered the two things he felt could bring him unparalleled power. The Wand of Destiny, the Deathstick – a wand so powerful that he could never be defeated in battle would be his, if he could just trace the mastery from Hereward to whosoever had the wand at the time. A Horcrux, Loxias surmised, would keep him alive until he could find the wand.

Loxias immediately went out and killed a member of the Bones family and transformed his own wand into a Horcrux. In doing so, he redoubled the bond between himself and his wand, and his power was frightful indeed. Loxias travelled far and wide, killing purebloods and piecing together the history of the Elder Wand.

Eventually, Loxias knew who he was to kill in order to master the wand he sought, the wand that is believed to have been the Elder Wand of myth. Barnabas Deverill stood no match for Loxias. The frail old man died without putting up a fight. It was then that Loxias showed the depths of his depravity.

He passed his original wand, the Horcrux, on to a young boy who was near Hogwarts age. He recognised the signs of magick in this Muggleborn child, and he shadowed the boy, watching, and waiting. After three years, three years in which Loxias lived invisibly within feet of the boy at all times, the boy finally succumbed. The wand had destroyed his once cheerful disposition and what seemed like a shade followed the boy at all times. By the third year, just after the boy had returned home for Christmas break, Loxias and the shade continued to follow and returned to the boy's home. The shade was becoming more substantive, and it appeared as Loxias did before he had turned the wand into a Horcrux. The boy died in his sleep one night, and Loxias and Loxias fled, the Wand of Destiny and Loxias' wand in tow.

What resulted was a massacre of purebloods that will probably never been equalled in its body count. The Peverells went extinct in the male line at this time, and an entire line of the Blacks was wiped out. What happened next is still something of a mystery. Loxias had transfigured his original wand to appear just like the wand he carried, the so-called Wand of Destiny. Both he and his Manifested other then struck out on their own to further their cause, reducing the McGonagall and Hagrid lines to but a single man each, the last pureblood families native to Scotland.

Two men who fancied themselves Questers after the Deathly Hallows, Arcus Gaunt and Livius Malfoy, soon found themselves searching for Loxias, hoping that the rumours were true. They both found Loxias; Arcus in southern Wales and Livius in a busy London street. The duels were said to be amazing, and the tenacity of the Questers was not to be outdone. Loxias was destroyed in both his forms, and each man went about claiming ownership of the 'Elder Wand'. The English believe that it was Livius who defeated Loxias, and the Welsh believe it was Arcus. In either case, the Irish and the Scottish are simply glad that the man who terrorised the pureblood lines of the Isles is no more. It is only those few Animagi who followed Loxias in his early days, keeping track of his movements so as to warn Britain, who discovered his use of the Horcrux magick, that know the truth of Loxias' defeat. However, it is unknown who holds the supposed Wand of Destiny now. Whether it is Arcus or Livius, or someone new who hath come along, is unknown.

Creating a Horcrux, it should be noted, is incredibly damaging to the soul. Whilst there is no way to die whilst a Horcrux persisteth, a few ghosts have spoken of those who died after their Horcruxes were destroyed. The soul becometh unstable after it hath been torn and separated, damaging the ability to enter the afterlife. Ghosts speak of lost souls who wander piteously in Limbo, trying desperately to enter their final resting place. One ghost that spake of such things said that he waited in Limbo and watched the broken souls of Loxias attempt to enter the afterlife. When they finally were granted entry, the man chose to remain behind as a ghost. Upon returning to the world of the living, this ghost asked the date and found that he had spent five years observing Loxias in his quest to enter the afterlife. As such, Loxias can be thanked for bringing the knowledge that a Manifested Horcrux behaveth identically to an unharmed soul in the afterlife. It would also seem that those who create Horcruxes cannot choose to become ghosts, and that it taketh an inordinately long time for death to accept them. The consequences for having a mangled soul appear to be contingent on the failure of the Horcrux to keep its creator alive.

Loxias is the only wizard known to _force_ full Manifestation of his Horcrux on another human being. From this, it is crystal clear how a Manifested Horcrux can be useful. It provideth a second set of eyes and ears, a second hand by which to perform magick. In the next chapter, Death and unmolested Horcruxes will be discussed, as well as theory on a use for Manifested Horcruxes in such cases.


	8. Carmen and Ignacio Salvador

_Carmen and Ignacio Salvador_

"_He died, and I had to bring him back. We had not yet discovered how to destroy his Horcrux, and he persisted with me, while I devised ways to return him, to grant him a new body again." – Carmen Salvador de Martinez, Horcrux experimenter._

The Salvadors were a magical couple in Spain over a century ago who dedicated themselves to research into the Dark Arts. When they came across the ritual of Horcrux creation in 1310, they immediately set to work on creating Horcruxes so as to build the body of knowledge. By killing their neighbours, each created a Horcrux of their wedding rings.

In the course of their experiments, they discovered many things. They gave the rings to no less than fifty Muggles and observed the resultant behaviour. All of them exhibited the same greedy, obsessive compulsion with regards to possessing the Horcrux. Their emotions became more and more negative, their actions more rash and less predictable. Once their experiment in behaviour resultant in such cases concluded, the couple began research into possible methods of destroying their Horcruxes. Carmen discovered that a manticore could be used to destroy a Horcrux when Ignacio put her ring in the pen with the manticore. Unfortunately, it stung him and then the Horcrux.

Ignacio, however, still had his Horcrux, and Carmen documented her husband's seeming demise in great detail. The translated account reads:

_The manticore killed my husband, stinging him through the heart and burning through his body with its cruel venom. His death, however, was different than the usual accounts of death by manticore sting – he did not dry up and burn as is commonly told. His body simply faded into vapour, leaving no trace of his presence aside from his wand. I took the wand and watched the vapour cautiously; it looked noxious._

_And then I heard his voice. "Carmen, Carmen, min love. We must work to restore me to a body; think of the possibilities! This hath never been documented before; we are entering new territory in our research!" _

_And so we began._

The couple worked, finding rare potion ingredients and researching spells. No magick that could be performed with a wand was able to help, and so it was to the potions they turned. Research led to the first breakthrough, a potion that is based in unicorn blood and snake venom – they substituted basilisk's venom for its strength. The potion was able to solidify the vapour that was Ignacio Salvador, while they searched to find a way to restore Ignacio to a fully functional body.

In this, Carmen discovered something that no Horcrux creator had ever documented before. With only a partial soul, a wizard or witch with a Horcrux seems able to possess others in a manner similar to Manifestation.

_I reverted to vapour, entering the body and mind of min neighbour. I felt free, powerful, unlimited. Min wand had reverted with me, and when I materialised, it was in min hand once again. I had total control of hir, and Ignacio was incredibly pleased with this discovery. We documented it and returned to research._

In time, Carmen proposed a risky, untested hypothesis. The trial would be conducted in three phases. First was to track down Ignacio's father and kill him, in order to extract some bone. The second step would be for Carmen to sacrifice a portion of hirself. The third would be to find a family member of the man Ignacio had killed in order to create his Horcrux, and take his blood.

The hypothesis hinged on a variation on ancient ideas about the body. In order to construct a new body, the Salvadors reasoned, they would need the three key components of a body: flesh, blood, and bone. It was a tossup as to what combination of blood, flesh, and bone would go with enemy, father, and sacrifice, but they would first attempt the above mentioned combination. It turned out to be the correct combination.

_I placed his solid form in a cauldron full of water set over a controlled magickal fire. I held aloft the skull of his father. "Bone of the father, unknowingly given, thou wilt renew thy son!" I dropped the skull into the cauldron, watching sparks fly out as the potion hissed before turning a deep, midnight blue. Then I took a silver dagger, and held it to min forearm. "Flesh of the servant, willingly given, thou wilt revive thy master!" I sliced down the back of min forearm, down past my wrist, until I hit knuckle. The long sheet of skin fell into the cauldron, and I flicked min wand, and dittany flew from min bag to coat the wound. The potion hissed and sputtered, turning a violent shade of red that assaulted the eyes. Then, I took a vial of blood from min robes. "Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, thou wilt resurrect thy foe!" The blood poured into the cauldron, and the potion seemed to cease activity for a moment. Then the potion spurred to life, turning a blinding white and simmering, shooting sparks in every direction. The sparks died, and a cloud of white smoke billowed up from the cauldron. When it had cleared, Ignacio was looking back at me, his eyes wide with wonder. He looked at me, a great smile on his face. "We have to write this down. This is the greatest discovery in the history of our field!"_

Carmen and Ignacio Salvador had done the impossible. They had taken a soul that truly hovered in a space between life and death, and they had returned it fully and completely to life. They had created an intermediary state – a solid form that could be maintained by drinking a mixture of snake venom and unicorn's blood. It was not at all like a human, as Ignacio's notes described his appearance at the time as "a rock with eyes and a mouth."

After this incident, Ignacio went back to testing destruction methods on his Horcrux. Carmen speculated, having read about Manifestation, and arrived at a conclusion about what, exactly, would result from that. Sche theorised that, if reduced to vapour like Ignacio was, a Manifested Horcrux could absorb the vaporous form of the original soul, and the two could become one again, bypassing the need for the ritual that they had discovered. They never tested this hypothesis; however, as Ignacio discovered that basilisk's venom destroys a Horcrux before sche could bring it to his attention.


	9. In Closing

_In Closing_

The Horcrux is a device of exceeding complexity for which the consequence of failure is a swift demise. The prize for success, however, is immortality. For the reader that feeleth that he canth meet the challenge, takest a moment to consider this course of action before thou hast destroyed thyself.

The Horcrux is a nigh-impregnable fortress for the portion of the soul contained within, violable only by a small handful of methods. With the proper protection, the Horcrux will never be harmed, and its creator will be eternal.

Some may choose less effective, unproven means by which to secure an eternal life. It canth only be said that they will never survive for as long as one with a Horcrux. Manethon of Sebennytos lasted for three hundred years, a feat unlikely to be bested by one without such a secure hold on immortality as Manethon's Horcrux.

It is recommended that something important be chosen as the Horcrux, but the object must also be innocuous enough to pass for a typical magical object. It doth no good if a Horcrux proclaimeth itself to all who would wish to do harm to it, after all.

Should death ever befall the creator of a Horcrux, knowest that an indeterminable length of pain and suffering awaits thee before thou canst enter thine eternal rest. Remembrest that thou hast committed what can only be described as a violation against nature, a blasphemy of life itself. Thy life, as always, is in thy capable hands.

A word of advice: Be sure of heart and swift of mind if the Horcrux is what thou dost seek to create. Many have died in attempts, and several that succeeded were driven mad by the effort. This is a warning, designed to ensure that the Darkest Art be kept secret and hidden. Were this knowledge to come into the hands of the commons, the line between life and death would be forevermore blurred, the results too catastrophic to ponder.


End file.
